Cost of Living #7
- Thread starter nightshade
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Is this their new tactic to get you to move? I know you've been trying to parse things out, since they're renovating the building.
No, this is as they're no longer going to sell it 🥳 So instead I get a rent increase, I will have to really try to get a new job now, but I'll manage.
Plasma
Well, glad you have a home! You'll sort it out soon enough
TamsinValencia
I hope you get the new job!
Car is gona be an issue for me. I think I will take it to the local guy in town to give me a quote, but its harvest now and he will be flat out, so I just have to hope the old bomb ticks over until next year for me.
I have been bad with groceries. I lost almost 10 kilos now in buying all this good easy stuff but I really have to go back to bulk carbs again because the bill has been slipping up beyond me and I need to be saving for the car now.
Im so relieved that I dont have to do Christmas. Its such a weight off my shoulders. Every year that gets better, it seems Christmas was so much worse. I duno how to explain it, the further I get from it, the more horribly expensive and stressful I remember it being.
I have been bad with groceries. I lost almost 10 kilos now in buying all this good easy stuff but I really have to go back to bulk carbs again because the bill has been slipping up beyond me and I need to be saving for the car now.
Im so relieved that I dont have to do Christmas. Its such a weight off my shoulders. Every year that gets better, it seems Christmas was so much worse. I duno how to explain it, the further I get from it, the more horribly expensive and stressful I remember it being.
NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
My car was one of the main reasons that last month I did not go for a weekend away as I intended. Just because you are expecting large expenses does not make them any more affordable.
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
As some of you know, my truck was stolen earlier in the year.
After months of searching, I finally found a good used truck after being without one for months. When he brought her over I was so relieved I could cry. I will never take for granted having a car again. It was hard to find one for a number of reasons, but one being that people were asking like twice what they were worth. It was so frustrating. I know used cars are a hot commodity now but I’m not going to pay more than what something is worth. I’ve bought and sold several cars, and I’m not a sucker.
Now that it’s finally cooled off here, I was hoping me utility bill would go down, but my new roommate always wants the heat on. I am definitely the opposite; I’d rather not have it on, and save money, unless it’s really cold and just wear a sweater. I anticipate this being a huge issue with us. I also prefer it cooler when I sleep. I gave her a small space heater for her room as a hint.
I really resent that the cost of living is so high that even despite living in a low cost of living area I still have to have a roommate.
After months of searching, I finally found a good used truck after being without one for months. When he brought her over I was so relieved I could cry. I will never take for granted having a car again. It was hard to find one for a number of reasons, but one being that people were asking like twice what they were worth. It was so frustrating. I know used cars are a hot commodity now but I’m not going to pay more than what something is worth. I’ve bought and sold several cars, and I’m not a sucker.
Now that it’s finally cooled off here, I was hoping me utility bill would go down, but my new roommate always wants the heat on. I am definitely the opposite; I’d rather not have it on, and save money, unless it’s really cold and just wear a sweater. I anticipate this being a huge issue with us. I also prefer it cooler when I sleep. I gave her a small space heater for her room as a hint.
I really resent that the cost of living is so high that even despite living in a low cost of living area I still have to have a roommate.
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NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
Good news about getting a new vehicle! I have read that US cities are often not that well designed for pedestrians. Is that true?
Sweaters are way cheaper than heating. I like things like zip up fleeces which are designed with their own sort of thermostat; zip up or down (or button for something else) whether you want to be hotter or colder. Thicker duvets are cheaper too. Then you can have a hot water bottle or, more expensive but still cheaper than heating, a long, really hot bath which nicely boosts your core temperature! As well as just being nice in and of itself!
It depends. Cities like New York are extremely pedestrian friendly, but sort of out of necessity, since the city actively houses thousands upon thousands of people. Same with places like Chicago. I’ve visited both, NYC a few times, and never once did I use a car. Public transport was enough for my group to properly navigate and get where we needed to go (and back).
The farther you get from big metropolitan cities though, the worse off it is. Like where I live, there’s 0 public transport and everything is way too spread out to encourage walking to your destination. You’d be on a day long odyssey if you decided to walk to the grocery store to do your regular shopping.
Like even the city where I work my secondary job has this issue. The downtown area is covered with storefronts and there’s plenty of homes around it, but there’s no real grocery store in the area. You would need to walk/drive to different towns/cities to do any sort of real shopping beyond “bodega sandwiches”.
NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
Round here, it is not as bad as that, and this is hardly a major city. A couple of minutes walk away I have a mini supermarket, hairdresser, bakery/sandwich shop, take away and, of all things, a shop that sells wedding dresses! At least I know where to go for wedding dresses... 😀
Up that to about ten minutes walk and there are a lot more places. More take aways, more supermarkets, more hairdressers, vets, a funeral director's (!), a cafe and other miscellaneous shops that I clearly have not visited recently as I cannot remember what they are!
Supermarkets are debatable whether they are in walking distance. The main one I go to is ten minutes away by car (and there are a couple of other food shopping places near to it, as well as other large shops), but thanks to bus routes, about 45 minutes away via two buses. It would be faster walking there. Not fun carrying the shopping back though.
November
Wow sounds like a eutopia!
I can walk to the pub... And the post office.
NotASlayer
I have, I think, three pubs within walking distance!
Joan the Vampire Slayer
I wish I had a pub in walking distance!
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
Most smaller cities, yes. The city I live in, Tulsa, has some public transportation, but it only runs weekdays until 5pm, so I can’t use to get home from work. I also live four miles from work, and it wouldn’t safe walking home alone as a women, so I have to have a car. I’m a Bartender so I get off late. My neighborhood is not walkable. It’s residential and there are no sidewalks. There is nothing in walking distance but a community college, a dollar store and a gas station. And several churches.
However, where I used to live in Seattle, we had good public transit I could take to and from work.
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NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
Within 20 minutes walk, I have six different sets of shops, the closest two minutes away, covering a wide range of things, including small supermarkets, and six different pubs I think! Not counting churches, doctors and other things. Oddly not one petrol station. But I guess I would not be walking to one of those! Buses would not be bad going into and out of town; it's cross town where they don't run so well.
Hunga Munga
Scooby
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6 miles to any sort of shop ...either way . Used to be a couple of miles but all the village post offices shut down .30 miles either way to anywhere worth going to .
My food delivery comes up from 60 miles away .
My food delivery comes up from 60 miles away .
Kendar
Scooby
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Public transportation isn't great in the USA in most places. I live in the Austin area, and their bus system is OK (not great) IF you live in the square formed by I-35, Mopac, 183, and the river. If you're outside it it's poor, and if you're in one of the suburbs there's no real PT anywhere except a few places that will take you to downtown Austin.
From where I live, driving to work is 25 minutes. if I wanted to use the bus system? 90 minutes min.
I'm going to try and get myself organised to go to zero waste today, see if there's any veg going free. Eggs would be great too but fruit and veg is the priority if they have any. However its cold and snowing, so we'll see!
Woot! Dad gave me an old laptop from his work. I haven't visited this site for years from a laptop. Its so much more relaxing! Typing is more fun too. Phew. This is a big relief because all my tv is through the internet/laptop and the windows 8 laptop is now well and truly dead, while the other one is so full of photos and crap, it crashes often. So nice new clean slate! Until I fill this one with photos too lol. I am happy to have something so up to date. Its certainly easier, and much faster. And I have netflix again! Whooo hooo The OA rewatch, here I come!
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Score!
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
Score! Sadly; my laptop is still broken. I accidentally dropped it a while back and cracked the screen. I haven’t been able to afford to fix it. I do have an old Desktop I have been using.
My water will went up from $57 to $144. Holy…
NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
That is a heck of a lot! Are you on a water meter? (Do they even have water meters in the US?) If so, having a roommate would likely increase the costs. Though that is still a serious rise, even if that is true.
Kendar
Scooby
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Yes, there are water meters in the US. Most (if not all) homes inside a city limits will have them, and even most apartments have separate boxes for each apartment these days. If you are in a house the box for it is usually in the ground in the front yard somewhere.
(For many years my grandparents who lived in an isolated area outside of city limits had no utility bill at all except electricity. Water came from a well, they used a septic tank, and trash was burned by everyone in the area).
That's more than a 150% increase. That's huge. As I see it:
1) You've had a MAJOR rate change for some reason. I'd expect you should have been informed if that happened. (Note: in the USA water/sewage/trash is usually handled by the city itself. Electricity and gas MAY be handled by the city, or by a third party.)
2) You're doing something radically different that has dramatically increased water usage. I wouldn't expect A roommate to jump it that much, unless the roommate takes daily 40 minute showers.
3) There's a leak somewhere.
Have you check your bill? There SHOULD be a place that tells you how much you used during that cycle, and compare it to the previous month. That will tell you whether it's 1, or 2 or 3.
My laptop is emergency use only, very old and barely holding together. I use my phone for everything now. I would like to get a new one, but yeah out of the budget.
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